Hironaka Breaks Fukushi's 5000 m NR - Tokyo Olympics Athletics Day Four Japanese Results

In the morning session on day four of track and field competition at the Tokyo Olympics, Yuki Hashioka became the first Japanese man since the 1984 Los Angeles Games to make an Olympic long jump top eight. Having jumped 8.17 m in the qualifying round to rank 3rd in the final, Hashioka struggled to perform up to ability. making the top 8 cutoff after three jumps but failing to clear 8 m.

On his final jump he delivered a 8.10 m to place 6th, visibly disappointed but still the best Japanese men's Olympic performance in 37 years and 8 cm further than Junichi Usui's bronze medal jump in Los Angeles.

In the women's 1500 m heats, Nozomi Tanaka shaved another sliver off her record to qualify for the semifinal in 4:02.33. Past national champion Ran Urabe ran a PB 4:07.90 but did not advance.

In the evening session, Ryuji Miura was the lone Japanese man in the men's 3000 m steeplechase final in just his second serious international race, the first being his national record-breaking heat. Out slower than he was comfortable with, Miura took the lead in the early going. But in the second half he seemed to lack the spark that had illuminated his three national record-breaking runs this season, dropping back into the double digits before kicking hard to finish 7th in 8:16.90, 7 seconds off the NR he'd run in his first round heat.

But whatever disappointment he might have felt, in post-race interviews Miura seemed mostly positive and eager to work out the problems that surfaced this time. Given that he's only been running at this level for a year, and still turned in Japan's al-time best Olympic steeple result you'll probably be hearing his name again in Oregon next year and Paris two years later.

Like Miura, Ririka Hironaka was uncomfortable with the slow pace in the women's 5000 m final over the first 200 m and took over the lead with something she was more comfortable with. As in her first round heat that was right around 3:00/km, with a first 1000 m in 3:00.7. From there she ran each 1000 m progressively faster, even when sucked in by the pack, hanging on to the back, getting dropped, and kicking in, going 3:00.7 - 3:00.1 - 2:59.9 - 2:57.9 - 2:54.2, uncharacteristically throwing off the hat she wears in every race with about 1000 m to go.

Hironaka finished 9th in 14:52.84, her second PB in two races and bettering the great Kayoko Fukushi's national record by less than 0.4. It was the last remaining major record of Fukushi's still standing, and with its erasure her name now appears only next to the U20 women's 3000 m. At the rate Hironaka is going this won't be the last time she adds her name to the record books. Her next chance comes Saturday in the women's 10000 m final.

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

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